More than 4,000 firefighters, backed by the National Guard and crews from over a dozen states, battled multiple wildfires across Washington state, US on Saturday as strong winds and extreme heat fuelled blazes that forced widespread evacuations and power outages.
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Governor Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency and imposed a burn ban, warning that Washington was facing a "very serious situation" with more than a dozen active fires burning across over 250,000 acres. Nearly 450,000 acres have burned across the state so far this summer.
"Our state is facing a very serious situation with multiple fires," Ferguson said, adding that high temperatures and strong winds are expected to hamper firefighting efforts through the weekend.
The biggest concern remained the fast-moving Old Trails Fire in Spokane, which erupted around noon, raced through dry brush and grass, jumped the Spokane River and spread into residential neighbourhoods.
The blaze had burned about 3,000 acres by Saturday evening, threatened nearly 4,000 structures and forced evacuations across parts of the city. Cars lined roads as residents fled while thick smoke and towering flames engulfed the area.
"We urge residents of Spokane to heed evacuation orders and to stay alert to changing conditions and evacuations as they are rapidly changing," Courtney James, spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, said.
